Completed Event: Gymnastics versus NCAA Championship Final on April 19, 2025 , , 4th of 4 (197.2375)
Final Score
Gymnastics
4th of 4 (197.2375)
vs NCAA Championship Final
Friday, February 24
Salt Lake City, UT
6:00 PM
University of Utah
vs
California
#4 Utah Gymnastics Hosts #6 California Friday Night at the Huntsman Center
2/21/2023 2:41 PM | Gymnastics
Utes to take on fourth top-10 opponent this season.
MEET WEEK
Fourth-ranked Utah Gymnastics returns to the Jon M. Huntsman Center this Friday, Feb. 24, to host the California Golden Bears. Introductions are set to begin at 5:45 p.m. MT in Salt Lake City for the Friday night conference battle, while the meet will be aired on the Pac-12 Networks at 6 p.m. MT. The meet will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of Title IX and women in sports. The meet will also be Utah's alumni night.
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FAN FACTS
• Doors open to the public at 4:30 p.m. MT. Tickets for the meet can be found here.
• The Kids Zone will be in sections 11-15 prior to the meet, and there will be a face painter, balloon artist, and other activities. There will also be 1,000 bracelets given away to children pre-meet.
• There will be a Ford Teddy Bear Toss post-meet. Fans are encouraged to bring teddy bears to the competition to be donated to the Huntsman Cancer Institute.
• Free Utah Gymnastics team posters and trading cards will be available in the concourse.
• The Red Rocks Collection will be on sale on the concourse, as well as Red Rocks 'Top Gun' t-shirts.
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GETTING TO THE MEET
• Fans can ride TRAX for free with their meet ticket.
• There is a new "Red Rocks Express" this season, which is a free shuttle service from the Guardsman Way Tailgate lot and Broadcast Center lot on Wasatch Drive. The shuttle will run continuously before and after the meet.
• Fans can view the 2023 parking map, including Red Rocks Express routes, here.
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IN THE RANKINGS
In the Week 7 rankings, Utah remained fourth in the national standings after the rankings moved to National Qualifying Score. NQS is calculated by taking their highest six scores of the season, three of which must be road scores, dropping the high score and averaging the remaining five.
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Utah is fourth overall with a 197.575 NQS, which improved after the meet at Arizona State. The results from the Arizona State meet, as well as the results from the competition against Cal will be reflected in next week's rankings. Utah is ranked first in the nation on beam for the sixth-straight week, while vault is fifth in the nation, bars is eighth, and floor is 12th. Individually, Maile O'Keefe leads the Utes as the top gymnast in the country on beam, while Kara Eaker is tied for fifth in the nation on beam as well. Rounding out the Red Rocks in the top-25 is Cristal Isa, who is tied for 16th on beam currently.
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BY THE NUMBERS
• Utah is 59-1 at the Huntsman Center during the regular season in the past 11 seasons. Utah is 489-27 all-time in Salt Lake City.
• Utah has scored a 49.600 or better on beam in five of seven meets.
• Utah has scored a 49.500 or better on bars the past three meets.
• Utah's 49.775 on beam against UCLA, which matched the school record, stands as the highest score on any event in the nation this season.
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CHALK TALK
• Sage Thompson competed on vault for the first time this season at Arizona State. Utah's vault team has now had eight gymnasts compete at least one routine.
• Utah's bars and beam lineups have each gone seven gymnasts deep, while floor has seen eight gymnasts compete.
• Makenna Smith has scored consecutive 39.400s in the all-around and after the meet at Arizona State, she has now competed the most routines by a Ute this season.
• Utah has hit 163-168 routines this season. Gymnasts who have hit every routine are Makenna Smith (22-22), Abby Brenner (18-18), Maile O'Keefe (17-17), Cristal Isa (14-14), Amelie Morgan (12-12), Jaylene Gilstrap (11-11), Kara Eaker (10-10), Jillian Hoffman (7-7), Sage Thompson (6-6), and Lucy Stanhope (3-3).
• Individual event winners this season are Grace McCallum (8), O'Keefe (7), Jaedyn Rucker (3), Hoffman (2), Isa (2), Smith (2), Eaker (2), and Abby Paulson (1).
• O'Keefe (Feb. 7, Feb. 14) and Eaker (Jan. 17) have been named Pac-12 Specialists of the Week this season, while Makenna Smith earned a Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honor on Feb. 14.
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STANDOUT STATS
• Maile O'Keefe has not scored below a 9.925 this season on beam, while Kara Eaker has not scored below a 9.90 on beam.
• O'Keefe has scored a 9.90 or better on her last 10 routines between bars, beam, and floor.
• Abby Brenner posted the first 9.90-plus routines of her Utah career at Arizona State. She has not scored below a 9.80 this season on any event.
• Cristal Isa has scored a 9.90 or better on her last seven routines between bars and beam.
• Utah has had its upperclassmen compete 58% of its routines this season.
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SERIES STATS
• Utah leads the all-time series against California 29-3, which includes an undefeated record in Salt Lake City (10-0).
• Cal earned a 197.525-197.275 upset over the Utes in the regular season last year, but finished in second place behind the Utes at the Pac-12 Championships (198.000-197.425).
• Utah has won nine of the last 10 meetings against Cal, which includes three wins in SLC. In 2021, Utah downed Cal 197.375-197.125 at the Huntsman Center.
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SCOUTING CALIFORNIA
2022 Final Ranking: 11th
2023 Ranking: 6th
Co-Head Coaches: Justin Howell (11th season), Elisabeth Crandall-Howell (11th Season)
Golden Bear Highlights: Cal is coming off its second tie of the season, this time tying UCLA with a season high 197.975 to remain undefeated in Pac-12 play … Cal is sixth in the nation with a 197.500 NQS … The Golden Bears are 3rd nationally on bars, 5th on beam, 7th on vault, and 10th on floor … Cal has competed five gymnasts in the all-around the past three meets, including eMjae Frazier and Mya Lauzon, who posted a 39.700 and 39.675 in the all-around, respectively, against UCLA … Andi Li is ranked ninth in the nation with a 39.500 NQS and fifth on bars (9.95 NQS), while Nevaeh DeSouza is 11th with a 39.430 NQS in the all-around.Â
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UP NEXT
Utah Gymnastics competes against Arizona for its final home meet of the season next Friday, March 3. The Utes will send off its six seniors on senior night in the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Introductions and the senior recognitions are set to begin at 6:45 p.m. MT in Salt Lake City. Â
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Fourth-ranked Utah Gymnastics returns to the Jon M. Huntsman Center this Friday, Feb. 24, to host the California Golden Bears. Introductions are set to begin at 5:45 p.m. MT in Salt Lake City for the Friday night conference battle, while the meet will be aired on the Pac-12 Networks at 6 p.m. MT. The meet will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of Title IX and women in sports. The meet will also be Utah's alumni night.
Â
FAN FACTS
• Doors open to the public at 4:30 p.m. MT. Tickets for the meet can be found here.
• The Kids Zone will be in sections 11-15 prior to the meet, and there will be a face painter, balloon artist, and other activities. There will also be 1,000 bracelets given away to children pre-meet.
• There will be a Ford Teddy Bear Toss post-meet. Fans are encouraged to bring teddy bears to the competition to be donated to the Huntsman Cancer Institute.
• Free Utah Gymnastics team posters and trading cards will be available in the concourse.
• The Red Rocks Collection will be on sale on the concourse, as well as Red Rocks 'Top Gun' t-shirts.
Â
GETTING TO THE MEET
• Fans can ride TRAX for free with their meet ticket.
• There is a new "Red Rocks Express" this season, which is a free shuttle service from the Guardsman Way Tailgate lot and Broadcast Center lot on Wasatch Drive. The shuttle will run continuously before and after the meet.
• Fans can view the 2023 parking map, including Red Rocks Express routes, here.
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IN THE RANKINGS
In the Week 7 rankings, Utah remained fourth in the national standings after the rankings moved to National Qualifying Score. NQS is calculated by taking their highest six scores of the season, three of which must be road scores, dropping the high score and averaging the remaining five.
Â
Utah is fourth overall with a 197.575 NQS, which improved after the meet at Arizona State. The results from the Arizona State meet, as well as the results from the competition against Cal will be reflected in next week's rankings. Utah is ranked first in the nation on beam for the sixth-straight week, while vault is fifth in the nation, bars is eighth, and floor is 12th. Individually, Maile O'Keefe leads the Utes as the top gymnast in the country on beam, while Kara Eaker is tied for fifth in the nation on beam as well. Rounding out the Red Rocks in the top-25 is Cristal Isa, who is tied for 16th on beam currently.
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BY THE NUMBERS
• Utah is 59-1 at the Huntsman Center during the regular season in the past 11 seasons. Utah is 489-27 all-time in Salt Lake City.
• Utah has scored a 49.600 or better on beam in five of seven meets.
• Utah has scored a 49.500 or better on bars the past three meets.
• Utah's 49.775 on beam against UCLA, which matched the school record, stands as the highest score on any event in the nation this season.
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CHALK TALK
• Sage Thompson competed on vault for the first time this season at Arizona State. Utah's vault team has now had eight gymnasts compete at least one routine.
• Utah's bars and beam lineups have each gone seven gymnasts deep, while floor has seen eight gymnasts compete.
• Makenna Smith has scored consecutive 39.400s in the all-around and after the meet at Arizona State, she has now competed the most routines by a Ute this season.
• Utah has hit 163-168 routines this season. Gymnasts who have hit every routine are Makenna Smith (22-22), Abby Brenner (18-18), Maile O'Keefe (17-17), Cristal Isa (14-14), Amelie Morgan (12-12), Jaylene Gilstrap (11-11), Kara Eaker (10-10), Jillian Hoffman (7-7), Sage Thompson (6-6), and Lucy Stanhope (3-3).
• Individual event winners this season are Grace McCallum (8), O'Keefe (7), Jaedyn Rucker (3), Hoffman (2), Isa (2), Smith (2), Eaker (2), and Abby Paulson (1).
• O'Keefe (Feb. 7, Feb. 14) and Eaker (Jan. 17) have been named Pac-12 Specialists of the Week this season, while Makenna Smith earned a Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honor on Feb. 14.
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STANDOUT STATS
• Maile O'Keefe has not scored below a 9.925 this season on beam, while Kara Eaker has not scored below a 9.90 on beam.
• O'Keefe has scored a 9.90 or better on her last 10 routines between bars, beam, and floor.
• Abby Brenner posted the first 9.90-plus routines of her Utah career at Arizona State. She has not scored below a 9.80 this season on any event.
• Cristal Isa has scored a 9.90 or better on her last seven routines between bars and beam.
• Utah has had its upperclassmen compete 58% of its routines this season.
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SERIES STATS
• Utah leads the all-time series against California 29-3, which includes an undefeated record in Salt Lake City (10-0).
• Cal earned a 197.525-197.275 upset over the Utes in the regular season last year, but finished in second place behind the Utes at the Pac-12 Championships (198.000-197.425).
• Utah has won nine of the last 10 meetings against Cal, which includes three wins in SLC. In 2021, Utah downed Cal 197.375-197.125 at the Huntsman Center.
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SCOUTING CALIFORNIA
2022 Final Ranking: 11th
2023 Ranking: 6th
Co-Head Coaches: Justin Howell (11th season), Elisabeth Crandall-Howell (11th Season)
Golden Bear Highlights: Cal is coming off its second tie of the season, this time tying UCLA with a season high 197.975 to remain undefeated in Pac-12 play … Cal is sixth in the nation with a 197.500 NQS … The Golden Bears are 3rd nationally on bars, 5th on beam, 7th on vault, and 10th on floor … Cal has competed five gymnasts in the all-around the past three meets, including eMjae Frazier and Mya Lauzon, who posted a 39.700 and 39.675 in the all-around, respectively, against UCLA … Andi Li is ranked ninth in the nation with a 39.500 NQS and fifth on bars (9.95 NQS), while Nevaeh DeSouza is 11th with a 39.430 NQS in the all-around.Â
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UP NEXT
Utah Gymnastics competes against Arizona for its final home meet of the season next Friday, March 3. The Utes will send off its six seniors on senior night in the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Introductions and the senior recognitions are set to begin at 6:45 p.m. MT in Salt Lake City. Â
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Players Mentioned
/ Gymnastics
/ Gymnastics
/ Gymnastics
/ Gymnastics
/ Gymnastics
/ Gymnastics
/ Gymnastics
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